One of hockey's fiercest rivalries will be renewed when India and Pakistan face off in the upcoming 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup. The South Asian neighbours, who share a history of conflict and partition, are in the same group in the men's edition of the World Cup, which begins on Saturday.

The FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 will be jointly held in Wavre, Belgium and Amstelveen, The Netherlands, from August 15 to 30. Both the men's and women's editions will feature 16 teams each, divided into four pools. Germany are the defending men's world champions from 2023, while the Netherlands are the women's title holders from 2022.

This year's edition features a new format that removes the quarterfinal stage, replacing it with a second phase called the 'crossover pools'. After the opening round – called the pool stage – the teams will again be grouped into four new pools – Pools E, F, G and H – based on their finishing positions in the first round. Thus, they will play three additional matches. The top two teams from Pools E and F advance straight to the semifinals, while the others play classification matches (5th-16th positions).

India's men's hockey team will face Pakistan in a Pool D match on August 19. The match will be held at Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen, The Netherlands, and starts at 15:00 local time (6:30pm in India and 6pm in Pakistan). The upcoming contest is the first time in 16 years that India and Pakistan meet in the Hockey World Cup. They last met at the World Cup in the 2010 edition, in India's capital New Delhi, where the hosts beat Pakistan 4-1 in a Pool match.

India and Pakistan have met five times at a Hockey World Cup, with the Indians claiming three wins to Pakistan's two. The only Hockey World Cup final between them was played in 1975, and ended in a 2-1 win for India. Pakistan are the most successful men's team in the Hockey World Cup, with four titles: 1971, 1978, 1982 and 1994. India have won just once, in 1975. However, they hold the record for most Olympic gold medals (8).

The full schedule has been released: the pool stage begins on August 15, crossover pools run from August 21-24, semifinals and classification matches on August 28, and the bronze medal match and final on August 30. The India-Pakistan match is scheduled for the final day of the pool stage.

Source: www.aljazeera.com